The Time Between
by Ayalli
Summary: Along the journey to their next country, Kino and Hermes discusses life and the meaning of Kino's travels.


**Author's Note:** My first ever attempt at a fanfiction.

Kino no Tabi is one of my favorite animes of all time, and I've always wanted to write a fanfiction for it. I was prompted to do this by a contest at my school hosted by the anime club (which I'm not even in). Once I heard of it (and with some urgings from friends), I decided to finally try to write a fanfiction, something I had never thought I could possibly write.

This was a whole bunch of fun to do, and Kino is a really interesting character to write about.

As you can see, this fanfiction isn't really about anything in particular. Maybe once I'm a bit more confident about my fanfiction writing abilities (if I ever gain any, that is), I'll actually write about Kino's visit to a country.

...Any critique/suggestions on how I can improve is very much appreciated. :)

* * *

The girl, after checking that all their equipment was intact, gets on the motorrad and starts the engine.

The motorrad asks, "Hey, Kino?"

"What is it, Hermes?" She puts on her goggles and grips the handlebars tightly.

"Where are we going next?"

She shrugs, "We'll see," and smiles.

"Isn't that irrespensible?"

She pushes down on the gas pedal and they're off. "Irresponsible," she corrects. "And, yes, it might be, but that's what it means to a traveler." Then, as an afterthought, "I think I want to be surprised by the next country we come to."

"I don't like surprises. You almost got killed that time, and that time too!" Hermes seemed to be perfectly prepared to give a detailed account of all the trouble they had gotten into but Kino interrupts with a laugh.

"There are lots of good surprises too, you know, Hermes."

"There are more bad ones, though," Hermes quips.

There is a moment of quiet.

"Kino?"

"Ah, sorry, my mind wandered for a bit."

She stops the motorrad.

"I think what you say is true, Hermes, but I also believe that the quality of the good surprises outweighs the quantity of the bad ones."

If a motorcycle could sigh, Hermes would have. "Ah, you're always like this."

A pause as Hermes surveys his surroundings.

"Hey, why did we stop, Kino?"

"There's a fork in the road," she answers, which really isn't an answer at all.

"I can see that."

"So, which way should we go?"

"Whichever way you want, of course! Jeez, you're always so indecisive, Kino."

She looks left and right.

"Ah, then, let's try left, shall we?"

She starts the motorrad again and veers left.

After a moment of silence, with only the sound of Hermes's engine being heard, the motorrad spoke again. "Hey, Kino?"

"What is it, Hermes?"

"Why do you like being a traveler so much?"

"You don't?"

"No, I don't mind it, but sometimes I feel like this journey will never end."

"You want it to end?"

"It's not that..." Hermes begins and then stops, considering. Finally, "I don't know how to explain it..."

"I love traveling and seeing the world. I wouldn't mind if this journey lasts forever. Would you mind, Hermes?"

Hermes thinks for a moment. "Hm... Probably not. I was just wondering if you were ever going to get tired. You're only human, you know, Kino, and humans get tired easily."

She smiles. "I know. Thanks for worrying about me, Hermes, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of traveling." She pauses. "Remember what I told you before? About why I will only stay in a country for three days?"

"Hm…" The motorrad thinks about it for a minute. "Yeah. You said that you were afraid that if you stayed longer than three days, you would end up settling down…"

"…and cease to be a traveler," Kino finishes for him.

She stops the motorcycle and looks up. "Look, Hermes, there's a bird."

"It's hungry and probably wants to eat you."

"…It's said that when people see birds flying in the sky like this, they feel an urge to go on a journey."

"Who said that?"

For a moment, Kino considers the question. "Hm, I forgot."

She smiles, secretive.

"Is it because you saw a bird that you wanted to travel, Kino?"

She hardly even considers the question. "Ah, I don't know," she replies.

After waiting a while for the bird to disappear from view, "Well, let's continue, Hermes." And, they start again.

Motorrad and girl both have nothing left to talk about so they remain silent as they make their way across barren and grassy fields.

Suddenly, Kino swerves to a stop at the edge of a small cliff. Countless little buildings dotted the landscape below and skyscrapers towered above. The whole place was a myriad of lights, sounds, and colors.

"Wow, it's amazing, Kino," Hermes admires. Nevertheless, he still puts in, "But I wonder if something bad will happen here too…"

"Bad things happen everywhere."

"Nothing bad happened at Master's place, Kino!" argues the motorcycle. "This is why you shouldn't have gone on a journey in the first place. The world is a dangerous place."

"It may be dangerous, but it's still beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Hermes agrees, albeit, a bit reluctantly.

"The danger is part of what makes it beautiful. The world is not beautiful, therefore it is."

"I don't like that phisography."

"Philosophy," she corrects. Then adds, "It's true, though."


End file.
